ICIMOD

Nepal’s National Air Quality Management Action Plan(NAQMAP) is taking a closer look at the country’s industries, especially its industrial boilers.
These industrial boilers power factories that produce good ranging from food and textiles to pharmaceuticals and construction materials. Powered by diesel and biomass, their emissions affect both air quality and public health.

The good news is that alternatives like electric boilers, common boilers, and industrial heat pumps offer factories clean options to transition to.
But this transition also requires the right policies, infrastructure, financing, and technical support i, so that industries are best placed to make this shift.

Learn more about how Government of Nepal and ICIMOD are working towards this transition: https://www.icimod.org/event/air/transition-of-industrial-boilers-in-nepal/

Our initiative on Nepal’s NAQMAP is supported by ICIMOD’s Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP), funded by the UK government.


UK in Nepal Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Nepal’s energy narrative is changing fast.

We are no longer just talking about megawatts. We are talking about electricity as a driver for industrial growth, digital infrastructure, and economic transformation.

On paper, the latest budget gets a lot right. It presents a more integrated vision, linking generation, demand, finance, decarbonisation and reforms.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth. Nepal has rarely struggled with plans. It has struggled with delivery.

Can institutions, financing, and coordination keep up with this ambition?

Or will this become another well-designed strategy that stalls in ex*****on?

In his latest op-ed, ICIMOD’s energy specialist Avishek Malla breaks down what’s really at stake.

https://thehimalayantimes.com/opinion/an-energy-budget-with-bigger-ambitions-the-real-test-lies-in-ex*****on

ICIMOD participated as a strategic partner in the International Mountain Tourism Day 2026 theme event in Shennongjia, China, sharing knowledge and experience from the Hindu Kush Himalaya on sustainable and regenerative mountain tourism.

Through dialogue with partners, ICIMOD highlighted how mountain tourism can create opportunities for local communities, safeguard ecosystems and cultural heritage, and foster regional cooperation in the lead-up to the International Year of Sustainable and Resilient Tourism 2027 (IYSRT 2027).

In 2025 alone:
110,000+ kg of waste was removed from Everest
270,000+ kg of waste was removed from surrounding trails and villages

Yet waste is accumulating faster than it can be cleared.

The problem isn't just the trash we can see. Scientists have detected microplastics and nanoplastics in Everest’s snow, soil, and water. These pollutants can accelerate glacier melt, contaminate water sources, damage fragile ecosystems, and enter local food chains.

At the same time, there are encouraging signs of progress.

New measures including mandatory waste carry-back rules, waste monitoring teams, and Nepal’s Action Plan for Mountain Cleaning (2025–2029), aim to strengthen environmental protection. Proposed provisions under the Action Plan 2025-2029, in conjunction with the Integrated Tourism Bill, could also introduce stricter environmental standards for mountaineering and establish a permanent fund for high-mountain clean-up.

Protecting Everest means preventing pollution at its source, not just cleaning up after it.

Read the full op-ed by Lani Tamang and Tshering Sherpa: https://thehimalayantimes.com/opinion/waste-control-on-everest-calls-for-transformation-in-governance-behaviour

"If there is a sudden upstream inflow, our villages and fields are inundated in a matter of hours. This is how we live during the monsoon." This is life in North Bihar where monsoon flooding can arrive faster than any warning system can keep up with.

For generations, communities on both sides of the Nepal-India border have looked out for each other, sharing news of rising waters through family ties and, today, WhatsApp. It helps but it's not enough.

ICIMOD and the Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (OPRI-SPF) are working together to build a proper early warning system: flood maps, science-based alerts, and tools that actually reach the people who need them most with time to act.

Read the full story from the field: https://blog.icimod.org/cryosphere-water-risks/notes-from-the-field-building-an-early-warning-system-together-in-north-bihar/

Every winter smoke from crop residue fires blankets large parts of Nepal’s Terai region. Its impact is also felt across other parts of Nepal as the smoke travels across the plains and Himalayan foothills.

While farmers are blamed for “choosing” to set their crops on fire, systemic issues like mechanisation, labour shortages, non-existent residue markets continue to push - particularly smallholder farmers - into inefficient management of their crops residue.

A new blog explains why crop residue burning persists in Nepal and how a systems-level fix can create benefits not just for the country but for adjoining countries across the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Himalayan Foothills.

Read here: https://blog.icimod.org/air/crop-residue-burning-nepal/

This work is supported by ICIMOD’s Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP), funded by the UK government.

Call for papers

Climate and weather hazards rarely occur in isolation. Their compounding and cascading impacts are reshaping risk landscapes and exposing gaps in how societies forecast, communicate, and prepare.

A new Call for Papers for the nature partner journal Natural Hazards special collection ‘Weather and Climate-Induced Multi-Hazard Futures: Forecast, Communication, and Preparedness for Society’ invites interdisciplinary research that advances people-centred, inclusive early warning systems, preparedness, and risk-informed decision-making.

The focus is on the social dimensions of compounding and cascading weather- and climate-related hazards in an interconnected multi-hazard world, exploring actionable science that links interacting extremes and risk management to societal outcomes, particularly for vulnerable regions and communities.

This Collection is a joint effort by npj Natural Hazards Nature Portfolio; the Societal and Economic Research Applications (SERA) Working Group of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) World Weather Research Programme (WWRP); the WWRP Progressing Early Warnings for All (EW4All) Oriented to Partnerships and Local Engagement (PEOPLE) project; the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Regional Information for Society (RIfS) core project; the UNESCO- and WMO WWRP- endorsed Seamless Prediction and Services for Promoting Environmental and Societal Sustainability (SEPRESS) programme led by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Submission deadline: 30 September 2026.

For more information: https://www.nature.com/collections/facabjihee

Queries may be addressed to Rongkun Liu - Guest Editor of this special collection - at [email protected]

Ten nature-based products were launched in Bhutan, highlighting the growing role of entrepreneurs in biodiversity-based enterprises. These include products such as rhododendron mindfulness tea, cordyceps, herb-infused chocolate bars, and matsutake soup.

These nature-based initiatives not only promote sustainable livelihoods but also ensure that local communities benefit through Bhutan’s Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) mechanism, where communities supplying raw materials or traditional knowledge receive a fair share of the benefits.

This is an initiative of ICIMOD’s Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP) in partnership with the National Biodiversity Centre of Bhutan, funded by the UK Government.



Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office National Biodiversity Centre Bhutan

We often hear that economic development comes at the cost of nature. ICIMOD’s Mani Nepal, Senior Intervention Manager for Regional Networks and a renowned economist, flips that narrative.

In an interview with NTV World, he explains how clean air and healthy ecosystems are not a trade-off for development, but its foundation.

Watch the conversation to explore how environmental conservation and economic growth can go hand-in-hand.: https://youtu.be/slSpbOheS3Q?si=o2aaNiOHsE3NCB71

Are cities like Kathmandu solely responsible for the air their residents breathe? Not quite. Around 30% of the city’s pollution comes from sources beyond its borders.

This shows that local actions alone, whether behavioral or sectoral-specific, aren’t enough to solve a problem as complex as air pollution.

Ashish Tiwari, Air Lead at ICIMOD, highlights the need for an airshed approach, one that addresses pollution at regional and national levels for lasting impact. He also shares how ICIMOD is working with Nepal’s Department of Environment to develop a long-term roadmap for cleaner air.

Watch the full interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leHIM4feQr8